


Make Believe

by orphan_account



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Love Potion/Spell, M/M, Magic, Oral Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-01-03
Updated: 2013-01-03
Packaged: 2017-11-23 13:48:57
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/622856
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Cronus is going through his old spellbooks and discovers a spell that can make anyone fall in love with you under the right circumstances. He decides to try it out on Kankri to see if it works, still being skeptical about the whole 'magic' thing. What could possibly go wrong?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Make Believe

Cronus dragged the heavy trunk out from his closet and opened it, and inside of it were his heavy robes and old spellbooks. He wanted to burn them, because he had given up magic a long time ago, but it couldn't hurt to take a look inside first. He opened up the thickest one and leafed through it, looking through pages and pages of spells until one caught his eye.

It was a love spell. He read the instructions, then read them twice. It was very long and complicated, but when it was done, he was assured that his love interest would fall madly in red romance with him. 

"You must find a photo of the two of you, sprinkle special stardust over it, and burn it. If done correctly, this should produce flames in both of your blood colors, and also ignite kismesis feelings in the two of you," Cronus read. He shook his head. Magic wasn't real, and even so, he highly doubted that it could make anyone want to fill a quadrant with him. If he was going to do that, he would do it simply because he was worth it, and the trolls would be swooning over him. 

He read further. "During this stage, it's required that you initiate a strife with your love interest, as you need some contact between your blood in order to form the bond. The bond will be merely temporary, however, and will fade out after a day or two if you do not kiss your love interest. This seals the spell."

Cronus frowned. "So it's a blood bond, and it's sealed with a kiss? Sounds like stuff outta fairytales to me," He moved to put the book away, but in doing so, knocked his photo album off the bookshelf. A picture fell out of him and Kankri, smiling for the camera together. His arm was around Kankri's waist, and Kankri had two fingers held up behind his head, giving the effect of an extra pair of horns.

He picked up the photo and examined it for a while. Kankri was wearing a genuine smile, something he hadn't seen for a very long time. Did he want to make Kankri fall in love with him? Something stirred in him and urged him to do it, to cast the spell, even though his mind was telling him that magic was fake, and even if it did work, that it would be wrong to make someone fall in love with him.

He looked at the photo again, then leafed through his photo album. Sure, when he thought about people he would want a a matesprit, Kankri wouldn’t be his first choice. He might want someone with Meenah’s attitude or Aranea’s gorgeousness or Rufioh’s charm. But then he thought back to the past month that he’d spent with his group. Who had bandaged his wounds when Mituna knocked him unconscious and ran over his arm with his skateboard? Who had been the only one to defend him when Meenah laughed at his hair? Kankri was usually the one he could depend on, even when the others left him, and like it or not, Kankri depended on him, too. 

He took the photo and reached into the box for his bag of special stardust. He had made up his mind. He was going to cast the spell. 

A few minutes later, he had found his lighter in a chest somewhere, and the photo was covered in stardust and going up in flames. Sure enough, the fire was red and violet, the color of their blood. The smoke rising up was thick and dark and smelled awful. Cronus had to open a few windows to clear out the room. He knew he should have done it outside. He walked outside to get some fresh air and instantly heard the sound of a whistle being blown.

"Cronus, were you smoking your human cigarettes inside of your hive? You know that that causes air pollution and can be quite disruptive to your neighbors. Just look at that smoke, you filthy animal," Kankri said, his clawed finger jabbing into Cronus's chest. Cronus had never seen him this worked up, and truthfully, it was starting to get him a bit agitated as well. 

He placed both of his palms on Kankri's chest and gave him a good shove. "You know very well I don't smoke my cigarettes, Kanny. I was doing a little science experiment in there."

"Science? Since when do you perform science experments?" Kankri asked, unaffected by the shove. "You're practically illiterate. You don't even know helium from nitrogen. Oh, and one more thing? Don't call me Kanny," He gave Cronus a good shove back, although it didn't affect him, seeing as Cronus was a good head taller than Kankri. 

Cronus picked Kankri up and slammed him against the nearest tree. Leaves and sticks rained down on both of their heads, and Kankri winced as a twig nearly fell in his eye. He responded by raking his nails down Cronus's face, and Cronus tasted blood. Cronus was stunned for a moment, blinded by rage, then realized that it was probably the love spell that was causing the blinding hatred in both of them. He needed to make Kankri bleed, and he needed to do it fast, so that at least one drop of their blood could mix. Considering how much he was bleeding from Kankri's claws, it wouldn't be hard. 

So he did the first thing he thought of. He lifted Kankri off his feet and kissed him fiercely, biting down on his lower lip and drawing blood. He tasted it on his lips, a coppery metallic taste, slightly different from his own blood. Kankri dug his nails into his shoulders but didn't try to pull away. 

And then, all of a sudden, Cronus felt the anger draining out of him. He set Kankri down, gave him one long glare, and then departed. Kankri leaned against the tree. His entire body ached from the strife, but he felt something blossoming inside him, something peculiarly like flushed romance. 

He didn't know why this was happening, but he knew that whatever it was, it was beyond his control. 

He ran into Porrim on his way back to his hive. Porrim was shocked at his condition; his sweater had rips and tears in it, and he was bleeding from his lower lip and had bloodstains on his clothes in several places. 

"Kanny, did you get into a fight?" she asked.

"Porrim, don't belittle me," Kankri sighed. "I need your advice on how to manage quadrant vacillation and how to keep a potential kismesis or matesprit in one quadrant at all times."

"Who is this about, Kanny?" Porrim asked, her eyebrows knitting together. 

"Porrim," he sighed. "Do you even have to know?"

"Well, of course," she said. "This kind of thing always concerns me. I always need to know if my baby's dating someone."

"Don't coddle me, Porrim. This is none of your concern. I never ask about who's in your quadrants this week."

Porrim frowned. "Kankri."

"If you don't mind, I'll be going now," Kankri said. "I have some unfinished business to attend to."

Kankri found himself drawing a bath to wash away the blood. As he stepped into the bath, he found himself contemplating his feelings for Cronus. He couldn't be attracted to him, not like that, not that soon. But then he thought of that sudden, violent kiss and his breath caught in his throat, his insides twisted and he found himself unable to think for a second. 

He started thinking over every single casual flirtation Cronus had thrown his way in the past, and his face began to heat up imagining it all. A hand on his shoulder, fingertips casually brushing his hair back. He was suddenly aware of his hand ghosting over his unsheathed bulge, stroking the surface lightly, but he stopped himself. Whatever was happening, he refused to let it happen like this. 

He pulled on his clothes, grabbed his whistle and left his hive to find Cronus already there. He had been strumming his guitar while sitting underneath a tree, but the moment he saw Kankri, he set down his guitar and set off to greet him. 

"Well, well, well. If it isn't Kankri Vantas. What are you doing around here?"

"I live here," Kankri said. He had never noticed how tall Cronus was. He felt like he had to crane his neck to look him in the eye. 

Cronus rested his hand on Kankri's shoulder, and Kankri had a fleeting moment of panic before he managed to compose himself. What was wrong with him today? Cronus drummed his fingers on his shoulder, and he felt himself tense up. 

"Relax," Cronus said, and Kankri felt his hand leave his shoulder and give his ass a friendly squeeze. He yelped in surprise, and Cronus gave a low chuckle.

Kankri's face was bright red, but he still managed to find his whistle and blow it, making an earsplitting sound. "You violated my privacy. That could be very triggering to some people."

Cronus grabbed his wrist, taking the whistle from him, then took his hand and kissed it. He slipped the whistle into his pocket. "Then why don't we take it slow and you tell me what you want so that I don't trigger you further, huh?"

Kankri's face was scarlet. "Are you proposing intercourse, Ampora?" The very idea made his insides twist in knots from excitement and nerves. He had never considered the implications of sex before, especially sex with someone like Cronus. He wasn't sure if he was ready, but he was sure that it would be one hell of a ride.

Cronus brushed his lips over Kankri's ear, and Kankri shivered from the contact. "Maybe."

Cronus wrapped his arms around Kankri's waist, and pulled him in close so that their bodies were flush with one another. Kankri felt unsteady, like he was going to crash-land at any given time, and he had the distinct thought of _I need an adult._ He looked at Cronus's face, at his full lips, and thought of what it might be like to feel those lips pressing against his own, drifting across his neck, the soft flesh of his stomach. He imagined Cronus's lips pressed against his nook, and his mind instantly jolted him back to reality. _Too far_ , he thought. But he still managed to press a chaste kiss to Cronus's mouth before slipping out of his grasp. 

Cronus was smiling, and Kankri was sure that he was intoxicated now, because he kept wanting to be alone with him, and that was a very bad sign. Now Kankri was absolutely positive that he had felt this way before, at least a little, but it had been stuffed down inside him by his insecurities and he had been forced to feel a sort of pseudo-palemance for Cronus, keeping him out of trouble and whatnot. Now, Cronus was kissing his shoulder and Kankri had his arms around his waist, not stopping him, just letting it happen. 

"We need to be alone," Kankri breathed, and Cronus nodded, taking Kankri's hand and leading him to his hive. When the door was shut and locked behind them, Cronus instantly turned to Kankri, showering his face with kisses. Kankri could barely keep up. Kankri kissed Cronus's neck, then pressed his lips against his collarbone through his shirt. He began licking and sucking on Cronus's gills, and Cronus let out an audible moan before he could stop himself.

"Babe, you know I'm sensitive there," Cronus said, one hand on Kankri's shoulder, although not trying to push him away. Cronus could feel his bulge becoming unsheathed from all the attention Kankri was giving him, and frankly, he didn't want him to stop. 

Kankri moved his attention to Cronus's other set of gills, listening to Cronus's soft moans. He felt something hard pressing against the soft flesh of his stomach, and he realized with a jolt that Cronus was already hard. Truthfully, Kankri was beginning to get worked up as well, though not nearly as much as Cronus was. 

He pressed the palm of his hand against the bulge in Cronus's tight pants, and Cronus let out a soft whine of pleasure. He cupped it, pressing harder, kneading the flesh with his palm, and Cronus bucked his hips into his palm. 

Maybe Kankri had underestimated him all the time that he was with him. He had thought that if he had just been nice to him, maybe showed him that pseudo-pale kindness he had put on whenever he was around, then maybe Cronus would stop being so lonely all of the time, now that he had some semblance of a friend. But this...

Kankri squeezed Cronus's erect bulge again, still sucking on his gills, and Cronus moaned, he fucking moaned. Kankri had no idea he could ever elicit that reaction in someone. Yes, this was what Cronus needed. Kankri had no idea that he would be the one to give it to him, not until now. He wondered what had happened. 

Kankri tugged Cronus's shirt over his shoulders and kissed his way down his chest, pressing sloppy, wet kisses down his toned stomach before kissing the crotch of his jeans. Cronus's breath caught in his throat as Kankri unzipped his jeans and pulled them down. His boxers soon followed, leaving him naked in front of him. 

Kankri motioned for him to sit on his human bed that he insisted on having, and Cronus lounged on the mattress, spreading his legs and opening his nook with his fingers, revealing himself to Kankri. Kankri bit his lip, feeling overwhelming desire spread through him. He wanted to run and hide, but at the same time he wanted to pleasure Cronus so thoroughly that he forgot his own name.

So, naturally, he just stood there with his mouth hanging open, unable to move one way or another.

"Come on, Kankri, I'm waiting," Cronus said. His legs were still spread, and Kankri finally snapped out of his daze long enough to make his way over to the bed and position himself in between Cronus's legs. He lifted Cronus's knees up and let him rest his legs on his shoulders, and leaned forward, licking one long stripe up Cronus's nook. 

Cronus gasped in pleasure and one of his hands found its way to Kankri's hair. Kankri buried his face in Cronus's nook, thrusting his tongue inside his entrance and teasing the sides of his nook with the tip of his tongue. His lips were soon touching the entrance to Cronus's nook, his long tongue exploring every inch of him, stroking him up and down. Genetic material dripped down Kankri's chin. 

Cronus had his head thrown back, every once in a while letting out a soft moan. Both of his hands were buried in Kankri's hair. His bulge still ached from lack of contact, although he was receiving twice as much pleasure in his nook. Every once in a while he would reach down and try to touch it, try to finish himself off, but Kankri always slapped his hand away and pulled back a bit, strings of genetic material connecting his lower lip to Cronus's nook, and looked Cronus in the eye.

"You'll finish when I let you finish," he said.

And then he bowed his head again and his lips brushed Cronus's nook, his tongue delved inside of him, and Cronus forgot his voice again. 

In a few minutes, Cronus thought for sure he would come. Kankri's face was already wet and sticky with his genetic material, and he was already on the edge, aching, dripping wet, ready to lose complete control. Kankri's lips were firmly planted on the wet surface of his nook, his tongue deep inside of him, lashing against his walls, thrusting in and out. 

And then he got a good look at Kankri, saw his messed-up hair, how his lips and chin were already coated in purple, saw his half-lidded eyes and flushed face, and noticed how one of his hands was down by the front of his pants, rubbing his hard bulge through the crotch of his high pants.

That must have set him off, because at that moment, Cronus came, splattering Kankri's face and the collar of his sweater with purple. Kankri stood up, and Cronus noticed how aroused and disheveled and _hot_ he looked at that moment. He wasn't even trying to cover up the noticeable bulge in his pants. He was just licking his lips and wiping his face with the sleeve of his sweater. 

"That was..."

"Pleasurable? It was an enjoyable experience for me too, trust me," Kankri was smiling, and my God, Cronus wanted to fuck him. 

"Are you sure you don't want me to take care of that?" Cronus asked him, gesturing at his erection.

"I'm fine, trust me," Kankri said, pressing his lips together. "Although if you could provide some stimulation it would be welcome."

Kankri was already taking off his pants and walking over to the bed by the time he said 'welcome.' Cronus smirked. So he wants some more. 

Kankri motioned to sit in Cronus's lap, and Cronus realized that he intended to ride him. Kankri placed his hands on Cronus's shoulders, and Cronus guided him into position before Kankri impaled himself on Cronus's cock. Kankri stayed still for a few seconds, his body clenching around Cronus's hard cock, before he managed to relax a bit and glide up and down on the shaft. He shifted his hips, allowing Cronus's cock to slide in and out of him. Cronus's nails dug into Kankri's hips, almost physically lifting him up and slamming him down, forcing him to go faster. Kankri was aching, his entire body charged with electricity, the friction sending sparks through his core. They locked lips as Kankri came, his nook tightening around the hard bulge inside of him. This caused a sort of chain reaction inside of Cronus, and soon he was spilling inside of Kankri's body, his orgasm so powerful that his entire field of vision went white. 

Kankri dismounted and collapsed on the bed. Cronus laid down beside him, completely exhausted from all of the intense lovemaking that had just happened. 

"Cronus?" Kankri asked. "I have no idea why this happened, but I have a strong desire to do it again someday."

Cronus just nodded, resting his head on Kankri's chest and drifting off to sleep. 

They were together every day after that. The other trolls wondered why, but they had become inseparable. Maybe it was the spell, or maybe it was something else entirely. But whatever it was, nothing could keep them apart.

Every night, Kankri slept in Cronus’s bed, that is, when Cronus wasn’t sleeping in Kankri’s cocoon. It took a little while for the other trolls to get used to how close they were, and frankly, it creeped some of them out. One day Porrim walked in on the two of them making out in a closet in her hive while Kankri was visiting and she scolded him for indecency a thousand times over. 

Cronus couldn’t bring himself to burn the spell books after all of the good they had done for him. They still stayed in a trunk in the back of his closet. He considered taking up magic again, but even after all that he still was a skeptic. So the books stayed buried.

That is, until Cronus got into gambling. Or rather, he began losing at gambling. He lost a great deal of money betting against the other trolls in Fiduspawn tournaments, and he was looking through his spellbooks for a good ‘get rich quick’ spell when Kankri walked over to his side, still wearing one of his T-shirts. It hung down to his knees, but was a bit tight over his stomach area. 

Kankri rubbed his eyes and knelt down next to Cronus, reading over his shoulder. “What sort of enchantment are you looking for?”

“Money spell,” Cronus mumbled.

“You know that sort of prestidigitation doesn’t work when it comes to things such as monetary affairs,” Kankri said in a matter-of-fact tone.

“Yeah, I’m a bit skeptical too,” Cronus said, flipping through the book to one of the many bookmarked pages. It just happened to be the one marked ‘Spell to Induce Flushed Romance.’

Cronus quickly closed the book, but Kankri already had his finger on the page. “Open it. I would like to see.”

So Cronus opened the book, and Kankri read it, read the entire thing, and when he met Cronus’s eyes it was like watching a plane crash. 

“That was what you used on me, wasn’t it? The love spell?” Kankri asked.

“No, I mean yes, I mean... maybe?” Cronus was sweating bullets. He was trying to look for a way out of this, but Kankri had got him. Did this mean the spell was broken now? Who knew? Was Kankri going to leave him now?

“The smoke, the sudden fighting, the flushed feelings, the lies... It all makes sense,” Kankri said. “I thought I was finally realizing my feelings. Now I know that it was all just a trick.”

“No, it’s not like that, I swear.”

“What’s it like, then?” Kankri was livid. Cronus had no idea that he had such a fierce temper.

“I’m sorry.”

“You better be,” Kankri pulled on his pants and his sweater and stormed out the door, and just like that, Cronus had lost his only hope. 

Kankri gave himself some time to relax in his hive. As soon as his anger faded away, he found that he didn’t have overpowering flushed feelings for Cronus anymore. The spell was broken! He rejoiced in this fact for a moment, as the feelings had been so stifling for the past couple of perigrees that he had forgotten what it was like to exist without them. But as he reflected more on the subject, he realized he was still flushed for him, it was just the feelings he had had before, the ones he had ignored because he deemed them insignificant and irrelevant to his studies. The exact same feelings that he had pushed down and shut into a little box inside him so that he could assume the tepid state of almost-palemance. Who knows how many songs Cronus had written about him that he was unaware of?

But now, he went back to the hard work of stowing his feelings away again so that he could resume his work.

So they went back to the way they were. Even worse- they ignored each other. Cronus was usually lonely, but this time he felt terribly bitter and isolated after they had broken up. He would stay in his hive for days, only coming out to try and hit on another member of their little group, but his attempts were so halfhearted that they could easily push him away.

Kankri returned to his studies, and would read for hours on social justice and immerse himself in his lectures, which he would later read to anyone who would listen. No one would listen, of course, but he tried not to notice that. He tried not to notice that he had no audience here. He also tried not to notice how withdrawn Cronus had become, because that would only make him pity him more. And that would be a very bad thing. 

And then that one day, on the 1st perigree of the year, the lake next to Cronus’s have had frozen over and Mituna and Latula were out on it with unusual bladed shoes. Kankri went to sit by the side, intending to just watch, but as soon as Latula saw him approaching, she skidded off towards the side.

“Hey there, bro! You ready to get your skate on?”

“Er... I’m merely a spectator,” Kankri said.

“Come on!” Latula ran up to him, grabbed him by the wrists and dragged him out towards the frozen water. “Mituna has an extra pair of skates you can have!”

With Latula not holding his hand, Mituna had fallen over on the ice and was just sitting there. Latula left Kankri down by the water’s edge and ran back to help her matesprit up and keep him steady while they skated together. 

Kankri found the skates and laced them up before he stepped out onto the ice. He took a few unsteady steps on the ice, gliding in short bursts. His stride wobbled with each trip around the lake he took. 

“Be careful over there!” Latula said, gliding past him with Mituna in tow as he passed a dark patch. “That’s thin ice!”

Kankri skated past it without a problem, and slowly made the trip around only falling twice. But as he passed the patch of thin ice again, his skate blade caught a rock and he hit the ground hard. He sprawled on the ice facedown, his whistle flying out of his hands, and saw a crack run through the ice from where he landed. But he didn’t break the ice, not yet.

The whistle landed about two yards away from him. He pushed himself up on his elbows and spotted it, lying right in the middle of the crack in the ice. He looked behind him to see Mituna and Latula packing up their things and leaving the area. He should return the skates, but he couldn’t leave without his trigger whistle. Maybe if he sort of inched along on his stomach, he would be safe...

He made it about halfway before the crack widened and he plunged through the ice. The freezing cold water seized his chest, and air bubbles escaped his lips without even consciously letting them out. He floundered around in the water, trying to make it back to the surface, but his heavy sweater dragged him down, making it even harder for him to stay afloat. He was going to die, he realized. He was going to die here. 

Darkness clouded his vision. He tried one more time to kick his way up to the surface, but his legs felt like they were made of rubber. He finally gave in, and slipped to the bottom of the lake.

A bright light. He was being dragged up, out of the lake, past the ice. A choir of voices were all talking to him at once.

No.

One voice.

Kankri opened his eyes. “Am I dead?”

“If I could pass as an angel, kid,” Cronus replied, and smiled at him, but instead of his usual lecherous smile, this one was filled with genuine relief. “I thought you were done for. When I saw you fall through that ice I didn’t know what to do. I had to break through the surface with Ahab’s Crosshairs and save you myself.”

“Thanks,” Kankri said. He was suddenly aware of his surroundings. He was in Cronus’s hive, lying on his bed, a couple of blankets thrown over him. Cronus must have carried him there. But his body still felt numb with cold. “Didn’t you know the proper emergency treatment for a severe case of cold-related shock such as this one is to find a source of warmth for the affected person? We are supposed to huddle for warmth, and you know that.”

“Oh. Right,” Cronus said, and climbed under the covers, pulling Kankri close against his chest. Kankri’s body was freezing cold, but he easily warmed up after several minutes like this, neither of them talking, just holding each other.

Finally, Kankri spoke up.

“Do you want to give this a second chance?”

“Sure thing, chief,” Cronus replied.

**Author's Note:**

> this is supposed to be a oneshot but it's the longest oneshot i've ever written and it took me all day to write
> 
> sighs
> 
> it's my biggest fanfic clusterfuck yet


End file.
